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Noel Le Graet, head of the French Football Federation, resigns after an investigation into sexual harassment
Noel Le Graet, the head of the French Football Federation, resigns after an investigation into sexual harassment.
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Noel Le Graet, the head of the French Football Federation (FFF), attends a Paris press conference in 2016. – Copyright Photo by AP/Christophe Ena
By: AP
Noel Le Graet, the president of the French Football Federation, resigned on Tuesday after a government-led audit determined that he was no longer qualified to lead due to his behavior toward women and management style.
Le Graet, 81, is being investigated by the court for alleged sexual harassment and moral harassment. He had already stepped down from his duties while the executive committee of the federation reviewed the audit findings.
According to a statement by the federation, he submitted his resignation during a meeting of the executive committee on Tuesday.
The statement said that Le Graet will be replaced by Philippe Diallo, vice president of the company, on an interim basis. This will last until June 2023.
Amelie Oudea-Castera, the French Minister of Sports, ordered an audit in September last year after Le Graet was criticized heavily.
The final report, based upon more than 100 interviews, and the analysis of different documents, concluded that Le Graet acted inappropriately towards women, and also highlighted other dysfunctions within the federation. It also noted that the federation’s policy against gender-based violence and sexual assault is “neither efficient nor effective.”
The federation praised Le Graet for his “remarkable sports and economic results” since he became the head of the soccer organization in 2011. It reiterated that it was “strongly committed against gender-based violence and sexual assault” and tried to distance itself from this audit.
Le Graet had a good relationship with FIFA President Gianni Infantino, and he will still continue to work at the FIFA office in Paris despite his resignation.
Infantino appointed Le Graet as his personal delegate in January 2022 to FIFA’s Paris satellite office, which includes liaising and member federations from Europe and Africa.
Infantino, who announced the appointment last year, said that the French Football Federation was doing a remarkable work. “I often have the chance to speak with Noel Le Graet in order to better understand how this example can be used to support football development projects around the world.”
Le Graet also wants to keep his EUR235,000 per year seat on the FIFA ruling council, which is chosen by UEFA members.
Le Graet, despite the controversy surrounding France’s soccer body, has not publicly withdrawn from his candidacy for a vote on 5 April at the UEFA Congress, Lisbon, Portugal. Fernando Gomes is his scheduled opponent, a UEFA Vice President from Portugal.
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Not a single TV channel, streaming platform or cinema in Russia will show the competitions from the Summer Olympics in Paris, which begin on July 26, sports.ru writes. This happened for the first time in 40 years, when in 1984 the USSR boycotted the Olympics in Los Angeles.
The official explanation is that this time only 16 athletes will participate under a neutral flag, without an anthem and in “unpopular sports”. The unofficial thing is that this is a purely political decision of the Kremlin, and heads of federations call those who agreed to participate traitors, homeless people and foreign agents.
Paris Mayor on Russians at the 2024 Olympics: It would be better if they didn’t come
Anne Hidalgo condemned the International Olympic Committee’s decision regarding representatives of the aggressor country, she said already in March.
According to the official, it would be good if athletes from the terrorist country did not participate in international competitions.
“I prefer that they not come. We cannot act as if the invasion does not exist. We cannot act as if Putin is not a dictator who is threatening all of Europe today.”
At the same time, she added that such sanctions cannot be imposed against Israeli athletes, since Israel’s actions are different from Russia’s aggression.
“There can be no talk of imposing sanctions against Israel in connection with the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Because Israel is a democratic country,” the mayor told Reuters.
Photo: Social Network / korrespondent.net.
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Theo Hernandez tries to shut down the controversy
In the second half of the challenge between Milan and Lazio Rafa Leao and Theo Hernandez did not participate in the cooling break with their teammates. The two champions remained on the other side of the field and did not join the group that was listening to Paulo Fonseca's instructions.
The behavior è appeared to be a kind of polemic against the coach, who was guilty of keeping the Portuguese and the Frenchman initially on the bench.
In the postgame Theo Hernandez tried to explain: “We had been in for two minutes, we did not need the cooling break. It was nothing against team and coach. Now we have to keep working to win all together. Then people talk, they say things that are not true. Rafa and I are always with the team to help, and è that’s the important”.
These are the words of Paulo Fonseca on the’incident: “There are no problems with Theo Hernandez and Leao, we do not create cases becauseé this week I spoke with both of them explaining my choice, which they accepted. I didn’t see that they stayed on the field during the cooling break, but they had been in for two minutes and didn’t need to stop or directions. The players’s reaction to entering the field è was positive, so let's not create problems that are not there”.
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Antonio Conte furious: “Absurd, soì è difficult”
At the end of the match won in extremis against Parma, Antonio Conte è vented: “It’s absurd that the soccer market ends on the third day. You coach players who are going to leave and you find yourself playing with players you haven't coached. Since soccer è is constantly changing I hope we change this rule that è is absurd. We had Lobotka and Anguissa on the field today and I didn’t have any other midfielders on the bench because Iaccarino and Saco who were with us were sold on loan”.
“This is not good and I hope that in the future we will change this rule. Lukaku today è entered with two training sessions, Neres è arrived very recently. Now I hope to use this break to get both of them fit, while Gilmour and McTominay will leave with the Scottish national team and return next week. Soì è really difficult”.
The Parthenopeans triumphed 2-1 thanks to goals from Lukaku and Anguissa, both of which came in the dying minutes: “I told the boys that we have to sweat the three points and always celebrate wins. Every game will be hard-fought and we should sweat it out. We have a path to take. The way we approached these three games, with a small number of players, there’s something to be proud of. Today we had no changes in midfield, è the è absurdityà of starting the championship with the market in progress”.
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